Welsh contender Liam Williams admits his future is uncertain in the aftermath of his first-round loss to Hamzah Sheeraz.

Williams was down twice against Sheeraz, who is now rated No. 4 by the WBC, and took a five-day vacation after the loss to get his mind in order.

“He obviously caught me a little bit cold, but no excuses really,” Williams said. “I went into the fight; I trained my butt off. I was ready – I thought I was fully ready. I didn’t struggle too much with the weight. I’ve been worse in the past, but obviously I’m 31 now – maybe that’s just harder to recover from. My age itself, I’m not old, but I’m getting there in terms of boxing. I’ve had a few tough fights.”

Sheeraz is increasingly being tipped for big things, while Williams is back in Wales contemplating his future. He’s 25-5-1 (20 KOs), and is full of praise for Sheeraz, too.

“He's unbelievable,” said Williams. “He’s very, very good and I’ve said to him and other people since that I think he’s going to do really well. You see people saying things too easily these days, like, ‘He’s definitely going to be a world champion’, but in all honesty I see him becoming a world champion, with the right path and a little bit of luck along the way.”

A post-fight video of the two sharing a sporting embrace and generous words went viral, and Williams said that not only was there no ill-feeling in the aftermath of the fight, but he was happy to spend time with Sheeraz and his family.

“He’s a very nice guy,” added Williams. “He had full respect for me afterwards – fair play to him. He said how much he looked up to me in the past and how much he liked to watch me fight and he’d like to buy me a drink after, and yeah, we caught up after. We had a little brief chat and his family brought over a big bag of food, pizzas, and they were just really nice, generous people.”

Williams has not yet spoken to his coach Gary Lockett about his future, but he knows that if he is going to walk away, it would be difficult. 

“I love training, I love everything but when it comes to putting your heart and soul into these camps, making weight and really taking yourself away from things, I’m not saying one bad loss and you throw the towel in…,” he continued.

“I was fine in sparring, but it’s different with a head guard and 16oz gloves on. 

“I’m taking some time away to think about what I really want next. I’m 31 now and I’ve boxed since I was nine-years-old. I’ve boxed for 22 years. It’s like I don’t know anything else and it’s only been 10 days or so… And to be honest, I’m pulling my hair out. I don’t know what to do with myself already!

“I’m not going to be sucked back in for money and whatever else, because my health is more important.”

Williams has had a fine career, but he will not allow himself to say he is content with it if he has reached the end of the road.  

“Not really because the goal was to be world champion, so in my eyes I probably fell a little bit short of what I was hoping to do,” he explained. “But obviously at that standard [world level], not everything’s that simple, either. 

“In the sport we’re in, it’s difficult and it can all be turned on its head with one punch, or something smaller.”